Classic American West Coast Boxing

[raylawpc]

A St. Patrick's Day Blessing (especially for Randy given his previous message):

"May the wind at your back

not be the result

of the corned beef and cabbage

you had for lunch!"

[kikibalt]

Frankie Baltazar vs Charles Young
Frankie's last fight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvHVj6Ewiy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAT6L2mxuww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjcPSci3rYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAL1SvPXq34

This is the first time I saw Frankie's last bout. It's great that he went out a winner. When you think of the many years that he fought it's great that he left the business on top and with all his senses. It was great seeing him last week at the amateur show and in time I must interview him for his place in the book I have planned. He and Tony have great stories that will show where L.A. legends of the era came from.

-Rick Farris

Funny story to this fight, Rick, the contract was for 143lbs, give or take, at the morning weight-in Young came in at 148lbs, under the CSAC rules a fighter can only lose two pounds and be allow to fight, Young was into Don Fraser for hundreds of dollars in advances, so Don couldn't afford to lose the fight, Don asked me if we would fight young at 146lbs. I said yes, we'll fight him at 146lbs and we'll also take 10% of his purse, the CSAC guy jumped up and said "you can't do that!", "the hell we can't" I said, I told him look at your rule book, he gets a rule book and starts reading, he tells me "I guess you can", also the CSAC got 10% of Young's purse.
Now Young came to the fight without corner men, so he hired Chuck Bodak and Jerry Boyd to work his corner, after the fight Chuck comes up to me and asked me if I have seen Young, I said no, he tells me "he hasn't paid us" I told Chuck "good luck" because Young was long gone....

[Randyman]

A St. Patrick's Day Blessing (especially for Randy given his previous message):

"May the wind at your back

not be the result

of the corned beef and cabbage

you had for lunch!"

A nice sentiment, Tom. A little late perhaps, but a nice thought.

Randy

[raylawpc]

delete

[raylawpc]

Frankie Baltazar vs Charles Young
Frankie's last fight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvHVj6Ewiy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAT6L2mxuww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjcPSci3rYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAL1SvPXq34

This is the first time I saw Frankie's last bout. It's great that he went out a winner. When you think of the many years that he fought it's great that he left the business on top and with all his senses. It was great seeing him last week at the amateur show and in time I must interview him for his place in the book I have planned. He and Tony have great stories that will show where L.A. legends of the era came from.

-Rick Farris

Funny story to this fight, Rick, the contract was for 143lbs, give or take, at the morning weight-in Young came in at 148lbs, under the CSAC rules a fighter can only lose two pounds and be allow to fight, Young was into Don Fraser for hundreds of dollars in advances, so Don couldn't afford to lose the fight, Don asked me if we would fight young at 146lbs. I said yes, we'll fight him at 146lbs and we'll also take 10% of his purse, the CSAC guy jumped up and said "you can't do that!", "the hell we can't" I said, I told him look at your rule book, he gets a rule book and starts reading, he tells me "I guess you can", also the CSAC got 10% of Young's purse.
Now Young came to the fight without corner men, so he hired Chuck Bodak and Jerry Boyd to work his corner, after the fight Chuck comes up to me and asked me if I have seen Young, I said no, he tells me "he hasn't paid us" I told Chuck "good luck" because Young was long gone....

Didn't pay the cornerman . . . the story of my career in boxing . . .

[Rick Farris]

Uncle John


"The Man"

St. Patrick's Day . . .

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I toast "Uncle John", Pug, Scartissue and Pop, the Quarry's, the spirit of Jimmy McLarnin, our Danny "Wildhawke", Mickey Walker, the spirit of Frankie Crawford, the spirit of Bob Murphy, the great John L. Sullivan, Sean O'Grady and everybody else with a spot of Mick blood flowing thru their veins.

"May your spirit be heaven ten minutes before the Devil knows your dead."


-"Irish" Ricky Farris D

A tip of the hat, to all my Irish friends, and all of God's blessings.

For today only I'm
Randy O'DeLa

By the way, I just finished off a plate of Corned Beef and Cabbage. It was good, very good.

[kikibalt]

Happy "St. Patrick's Day" to you Irish dudes

Now, when are we having a "Happy Vato's" day?....

[Dongee]

A St. Patrick's Day Blessing (especially for Randy given his previous message):

"May the wind at your back

not be the result

of the corned beef and cabbage

you had for lunch!"

A nice sentiment, Tom. A little late perhaps, but a nice thought.

Randy

We had it all at the Legion Stadium, Randy.

A Placido de la O boxed seven of his eight bouts for me at the Legion Stadium, making him the second de la O to appear at Hollywood. This one was a lightweight managed by Ralph Gambina. Another de la O named Joe boxed once at the Legion back in 1948. He was a featherweight. Any relation, Randy?

hap navarro

[scartissue]

Uncle John


"The Man"

St. Patrick's Day . . .

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I toast "Uncle John", Pug, Scartissue and Pop, the Quarry's, the spirit of Jimmy McLarnin, our Danny "Wildhawke", Mickey Walker, the spirit of Frankie Crawford, the spirit of Bob Murphy, the great John L. Sullivan, Sean O'Grady and everybody else with a spot of Mick blood flowing thru their veins.

"May your spirit be heaven ten minutes before the Devil knows your dead."


-"Irish" Ricky Farris D

Thanks, Rick. As Randy said, we're all Irish today. Incidentally, it's funny how this pic keeps showing up. Y'know, we'll have to make Uncle John the official mascot of 'Classic West Coast Boxing'.

Scartissue

[Rick Farris]

Uncle John


"The Man"

St. Patrick's Day . . .

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I toast "Uncle John", Pug, Scartissue and Pop, the Quarry's, the spirit of Jimmy McLarnin, our Danny "Wildhawke", Mickey Walker, the spirit of Frankie Crawford, the spirit of Bob Murphy, the great John L. Sullivan, Sean O'Grady and everybody else with a spot of Mick blood flowing thru their veins.

"May your spirit be heaven ten minutes before the Devil knows your dead."


-"Irish" Ricky Farris D

Thanks, Rick. As Randy said, we're all Irish today. Incidentally, it's funny how this pic keeps showing up. Y'know, we'll have to make Uncle John the official mascot of 'Classic West Coast Boxing'.

Scartissue

Why not?

[Randyman]

A St. Patrick's Day Blessing (especially for Randy given his previous message):

"May the wind at your back

not be the result

of the corned beef and cabbage

you had for lunch!"

A nice sentiment, Tom. A little late perhaps, but a nice thought.

Randy

We had it all at the Legion Stadium, Randy.

A Placido de la O boxed seven of his eight bouts for me at the Legion Stadium, making him the second de la O to appear at Hollywood. This one was a lightweight managed by Ralph Gambina. Another de la O named Joe boxed once at the Legion back in 1948. He was a featherweight. Any relation, Randy?

hap navarro

Hap, I was contacted last year by Placido's daughter. She believes that we are related. I tend to agree with her.The actual connection has not been made but some things match up. I've been doing a little genealogical research the last few years so I'm hoping to make a connection. I was talking with Cali Martinez at last years California Hall of Fame. He asked me the same thing. Turns out they were friends. Up until Frank, had asked me a couple of years ago, I had never heard of him.

According to his daughter, Placido disappeared off the face of the Earth years ago. While he was still fighting. She heard rumors that he had resurfaced some time ago back east. New York, maybe. But she really has no idea. She thinks there may have been foul play.Who knows, after so many years. This is the first I have heard of Joe De La O.

Hap, I would appreciate any stories or memories you may have of Joe and Placido. Almost without exception, when I meet another De La O, we find we are related. Sometimes going back a few generations.

Thanks Hap
Randy

[dagosd2000]

Hey Fellas'
Hot off the wire. My grand daughter just gave birth to a 5th great grand kid. Imagine that. A Mexican baby boy born on St. Paddy's Day. They're gonna' named the kid "Erik". Shit,I know that ain't Mexican. It ain't Irish either. I think it's a Viking name. To bad the kid wasn't a girl ,they could have name her "Erin". Would have made the San Patricios proud

Right now I gotta' take Amanda to Flamenco. Later I'll post a good Irish one about Bob Murphy. Handed down to me at the 'ol Arizona Cafe. Rog

[Rick Farris]

Tickets . . .

Today, Monica and I were at the Farmer's Market on Fairfax Ave. In recent years, a nice shopping center was put in in the spot where Gilmore Field once stood. As we have discussed here, there were a number of great boxing events held there in years past.

There is a small memorial to Gilmore Field, a glass enclosed case that displays a variety of tickets for special sporting events held there. As I look over a few dozen tickets, I spot one that I was looking for.

The ticket was in perfect condition, and was for a ringside seat to the 1940 title bout between Henry Armstrong and Ceferino Garcia. The ticket price was $11 and it revealed that the bout was being held under the auspices of the Hollywood Legion Stadium, promoter- Chas. MacDonald.

This town's boxing history is spread out, like the city of Los Angeles itself. We have Downtown, the Eastside, the Westside, South L.A. the Harbor areas, The San Fernando & San Gabriel Valleys, etc.

Rich boxing history can be found all over Los Angeles and I'm happy to see it remembered here.


-Rick Farris

[Randyman]

Hey Fellas'
Hot off the wire. My grand daughter just gave birth to a 5th great grand kid. Imagine that. A Mexican baby boy born on St. Paddy's Day. They're gonna' named the kid "Erik". Shit,I know that ain't Mexican. It ain't Irish either. I think it's a Viking name. To bad the kid wasn't a girl ,they could have name her "Erin". Would have made the San Patricios proud

Rog, I just showed Jeri your post. She sends her congratulations. Both of us do, to you, Maria and the familia.

Hey, don't forget one of Mexico's best in the last decade or so was named Erik. Erik Morales.

Were happy for you family Rog!!

Randy and Jeri

[Randyman]

Tickets . . .

Today, Monica and I were at the Farmer's Market on Fairfax Ave. In recent years, a nice shopping center was put in in the spot where Gilmore Field once stood. As we have discussed here, there were a number of great boxing events held there in years past.

There is a small memorial to Gilmore Field, a glass enclosed case that displays a variety of tickets for special sporting events held there. As I look over a few dozen tickets, I spot one that I was looking for.

The ticket was in perfect condition, and was for a ringside seat to the 1940 title bout between Henry Armstrong and Ceferino Garcia. The ticket price was $11 and it revealed that the bout was being held under the auspices of the Hollywood Legion Stadium, promoter- Chas. MacDonald.

This town's boxing history is spread out, like the city of Los Angeles itself. We have Downtown, the Eastside, the Westside, South L.A. the Harbor areas, The San Fernando & San Gabriel Valleys, etc.

Rich boxing history can be found all over Los Angeles and I'm happy to see it remembered here.


-Rick Farris

Thanks for sharing that Rick.

[Rick Farris]

Hey Fellas'
Hot off the wire. My grand daughter just gave birth to a 5th great grand kid. Imagine that. A Mexican baby boy born on St. Paddy's Day. They're gonna' named the kid "Erik". Shit,I know that ain't Mexican. It ain't Irish either. I think it's a Viking name. To bad the kid wasn't a girl ,they could have name her "Erin". Would have made the San Patricios proud

Right now I gotta' take Amanda to Flamenco. Later I'll post a good Irish one about Bob Murphy. Handed down to me at the 'ol Arizona Cafe. Rog

Congratulations, Roger!

Personally, I have always liked Latin names best, although I have no Latin blood that I know of. I remember when Ruben and Carol Navarro's first child was born, they named him "Todd". Their daughter came next and was named, "Julie". When their last child was born a boy, they named him, "Lance".

For boys, I like names like Armando, Ricardo, Roberto, Francisco, Antonio, etc. However, it didn't matter much since all I would have is a couple of daughters, and their names are of English and Scandanavian origin.


-Ricky Ricardo

[Randyman]

Frank, Check your regular email.

Randy

[kikibalt]

Hey Fellas'
Hot off the wire. My grand daughter just gave birth to a 5th great grand kid. Imagine that. A Mexican baby boy born on St. Paddy's Day. They're gonna' named the kid "Erik". Shit,I know that ain't Mexican. It ain't Irish either. I think it's a Viking name. To bad the kid wasn't a girl ,they could have name her "Erin". Would have made the San Patricios proud

Right now I gotta' take Amanda to Flamenco. Later I'll post a good Irish one about Bob Murphy. Handed down to me at the 'ol Arizona Cafe. Rog

Congratulation's, Roger and Maria Esty...

I have the the name for the baby boy, "JUAN" in honor of us Mexicans...

[kikibalt]

Frank, Check your regular email.

Randy

Nothing on my email, Randy.

[kikibalt]

Connie is back from her trip to visit my sister Rachel, brought back some great photos, which I would like share with you guys in due time.

[Randyman]

Frank, Check your regular email.

Randy

Nothing on my email, Randy.

Check again. I used AOL this time.

Randy

[kikibalt]

Frank, Check your regular email.

Randy

Nothing on my email, Randy.

Check again. I used AOL this time.

Randy

It came in on yahoo.

[raylawpc]

Hey Fellas'
Hot off the wire. My grand daughter just gave birth to a 5th great grand kid. Imagine that. A Mexican baby boy born on St. Paddy's Day. They're gonna' named the kid "Erik". Shit,I know that ain't Mexican. It ain't Irish either. I think it's a Viking name. To bad the kid wasn't a girl ,they could have name her "Erin". Would have made the San Patricios proud

Right now I gotta' take Amanda to Flamenco. Later I'll post a good Irish one about Bob Murphy. Handed down to me at the 'ol Arizona Cafe. Rog

Congrats on the new edition to the family . . . But waddaya got against a great SWEDISH name like Erik??

[Rick Farris]

When We Film Musicians & Singers . . .

Pink Floyd- "Pulse Tour" 1994. The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.

In the early 80's, a new medium emerged, one that developed into it's own Music Television Network, thus the birth of MTV.
This was also the birth of the "Music Video".

In the beginning, they were ragged, to say the least. What is known today as "Gorilla Film Making", defines the type of low-budget-down & dirty film making that put togther the earliest versions of what would emerge into major music marketing device. They weren't visually superior, especially in light of the mega budget feature film productions I had grown accustomed to working on. However, they made their point and they quickly won over a huge audience that didn't give a damn about "beauty" cinematography.

As the medium grew, so did the budgets and many of us who would never have considered "dropping down" to shoot music vids, were eager to mix their talent with our art. The money was there and soon we followed.

I've done a number of music productions over the years. I worked on both Michael Jackson flicks, "Thriller" and his disappointing, "Moonwalker". I was in the Shrine Auditorium working with my cousin on a Diet Pepsi commercial when Michael Jackson was seriously burned doing his music routine for the commercial. I also worked with Michael Jackson and other rock legends on the legendary music feature, "We Are The World", which was filmed at the "Charlie Chaplin Stage" of A&M Records on La Brea.

It's always fun for me to work with musicians, especially those who are to perform in the production. I've done my share of major movies that featured musicians, such "A Star Is Born", "The Rose, "Grease", "The Jazz Singer", "The Blues Brothers" and more. I've also done the MTV type shoots featuring a variety of top musicians and singers. However, of all the music jobs I would ever do, or for that matter, any film job I have ever done, being a part of a backstage documentary "mini-crew" to shoot behind scenes, back stage activity for the legendary English band, Pink Floyd, was the most interesting, fascinating and fun jobs I would ever do. It was hands down the best, and I have had a lot of great times with some great people during my career.

In this case, my job would be very simple. It was just two cameramen with shoulder mounted video cams, a sound man and myself with a battery pack strapped to my back and a small, hand held flood light that I could bounce off a wall or ceiling to provide some overall ambient light for exposure only. This wasn't art, it was down & dirty (Our docu style filming, that is. The concert represented the most expensive Rock & Roll tour ever, and one that would become legendary.)

We would shoot the band backstage before they make their stage appearance. Shoot the three girls (back-up singers who will exit twice for wardrobe changes.) Take stage with band as they do final curtain call. Our job was to focus on the three female back-up singers, two black and one white blonde (an Oreo type threesome on stage with blondie in the middle).

The three female back-ups were incredible singers, with amazing, powerful voices that literally mesmerized the audience at different times. I fell in love with all three, especially the blonde, English singer Sam Brown, a popular recording artist in her own right. The other two were Claudia Fontaine and Durga McBroom.

Sam Brown had a hit single in the U.K.- "STOP", and several other album CD's out. She and I would have time to visit on this night, as well as with Claudia and Durga. Three amamzing women. If I knew how to transfer over YouTube footage, I'd post the three women doing back-to-back solos from the Pink Floyd Pulse Tour song "Great Gig in the Sky".

That night I would meet several original members of the band in David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Nick Mason and Guy Pratt. They gave an incredible concert that featured the most incredible state of the art concert stage lighting I've ever seen. Even today, fifteen years later, I was amazed at the concert lighting roadies, the designers, the electronics, and the incredible laser effects.

All I had to do was carry around a small light, bounce some ambience off a wall occasionally, talk to the girls, sit and watch an incredible event from right off stage, talk to the girls, go to the after party, talk to the girls and get to know a little bit about Sam Brown. I have to admit, this woman, Sam Brown had me hooked. I wish I could play she and the other two angels singing, "Great Gig In the Sky" from that Pink Floyd's Pulse tour. If you guys saw Sam sing her solo, you'd know why I fell in love with her that night. She's brilliant!

Anybody from the U.K. heard of Sam Brown???? After that night in 1994, Pink Floyd holds a special place in past.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

My sister Rachel and Connie, at Rachel's and her husband Bob's vineyard.
Rachel lost all her hair going through chemo and wears a wig